A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet. ~ Orson Welles

In the very end, civilizations perish because they listen to their politicians and not to their poets. ~ Jonas Mekas ~ Imua Subvex!!!

There are as many definitions of poetry as there are poets. Wordsworth defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings;” Emily Dickinson said, “If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry;” and Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: “Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing.”

To borrow a phrase, poetry is a riddle wrapped in an enigma swathed in a cardigan sweater or something like that. It doesn’t like your definitions and will shirk them at every turn. Defining poetry is like grasping at the wind – once you catch it, it’s no longer wind.

This is a partial list of films based on poems, poetry and poets. Some are in the data bank, some are not. It needs more worldwide representation. Feel free to offer suggestions A week or so into this list I decided to expand the category to include films based on poetry as well as poets. Some are loose representations but decided I would include even these.

I grew up in this town, my poetry was born between the hill and the river, it took its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests. ~ Pablo Neruda

Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. ~ T.S. Eliot

The Color of Pomegranates

The Wind Will Carry Us

The Raven

The House is Black

Howl

The Plea

The Dark Side of the Heart

O Brother Where Art Thou

Gunga Din

Aniki Bobo

Tale of Tales

Horton Hears a Who

Sita Sings the Blues

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Accident (2004, Brazil)
The Adventure of Sudsakorn (1979, Thailand)
Afraid So, (2006, USA)
American Pop (1981, USA)
An Angel at My Table (1990, New Zealand, UK, Australia, USA)
Aniki Bobo (1942, Portugal)
Animated Epics: Beowulf (1998, Russia/USA/UK, short, made-for-TV)
Arising From the Surface (1980, India)
Ashik Kerib (1988, USSR)
The Basketball Diaries (1995, USA)
Beowulf (1999, USA)
Beowulf (2007, USA)
Beowulf & Grendel (2005, Iceland, United Kingdom, Canada)
Beowulf: Prince of the Geats (2007, USA)
Braveheart (1995, USA) , from The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir
Bright Star (2009, UK, Australia, France)
Bukowski: Born Into This (2002, USA)
Bye-Bye Bavaria (1977, West Germany)
Casey at the Bat (1927, USA)
The Cat in the Hat (2003, USA)
The Clerk’s Tale (2010, USA)
Coal Face (1935, UK)
The Color of Pomegranates (1970, Armenian SSR)
The Cremation of Sam McGee (1990, Canada, short)
The Cremation of Sam McGee: A Poem by Robert W. Service (1982, USA, short)
The Cure for Insomnia (1987, USA) All 87 hours of it !!!!!!
Dangerous Dan McFoo (1939, USA, short)
The Dark Night of the Soul (1989, Spain, France)
The Dark Side of the Heart (1992, Germany, Spain)
Dead Poet’s Society (1989, USA)
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches (1969, USA)
Dido & Aeneas (1995, Canada)
Divine Comedy (1991, Portugal, France, Switzerland)
Enoch Arden (1911, USA)
El Cid (1961, USA, Spain Charlton Heston)
The Edge of Love (2008, UK)
Elisa, My Life (1977, Spain)
Eneide (1971, Yugoslavia/Italy, TV miniseries)
Faust (1926, Germany)
Faust (1994, Czech Republic, France, UK)
The Feast of Stephen (2009, USA)
For Colored Girls ( USA)
The Full Monteverdi (2007, UK)
Grendel Grendel Grendel (1981, Australia)
La Guerra di Troia (1961, Italy/France)
Gunga Din (1939, USA)
Hedd Wyn ( Wales)
The Hangman (1964, USA, short)
Helen of Troy (1956, USA/Italy)
Herbert White (2009, USA)
Horton Hears a Who! (2008, USA)
The House is Black (1963, Iran)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966, 2000, USA)
Howl (2010, USA)
The Humpbacked Horse (1947, USSR)
The Humpbacked Horse (1976, USSR)
I Heart Huckabees (2004, USA)
I, The Worst of All (1990, Argentina)
Jabberwocky (1971, Czechoslovakia)
Kavafis (1983, Greece)
Kavafis (1996, Greece)
The Law of the Yukon (1920, USA)
La Leggenda di Enea (1962, Yugoslavia/Italy/France)
Le Chants De Maldoror (1977, Japan)
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (1994, USA)
The Lure of Heart’s Desire (1916, USA)
Maciste in Hell (1925, Italy)
A Man There Was (1917, Sweden)
The Man from Snowy River, (1982, Australia)
The Midnight Sun (2000, USA, short)
The Monkey’s Mask (2000, Australia)
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious CIrcle (1994, USA)
My Madonna (1915, USA, short)
Mudanza (2008, Spain)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993 film)
The Night Before Christmas (1941, USA, short)
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005, UK, USA)
No, or the Vain Glory of Command (1990, Spain, Portugal, France)
Notre Musique (2004, France, Switzerland)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000, USA), loosely based on The Odyssey
Pan Tadeusz (1999, Poland)
Pandaemonium (2000, France)
Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974, Japan)
The Plea (1967, Soviet Union)
Poem: I set my foot upon the air and it carried me (2002, Germany,USA)
Pull My Daisy (1959, USA)
Pumpkinhead (1988, USA)
Pyaasa (1957, India)
Rabindranath Tagore (1961, India)
The Raven (1963, USA)
Scenes From the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships & Intersections (1982, USA)
The Sentimental Bloke (1919, Australia)
The Set-Up (1949)
The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1924, USA)
Sita Sings the Blues (2008, USA)
The Song of the Wage Slave (1915, USA, short)
The Source (1999, USA)
The Sweet Hereafter (1997, Canada)
Sylvia (2003, USA)
The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish, (1950, USSR)
The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda, (1933-1936, USSR)
Tale of Tales (1979, USSR)
The Tale of Tsar Saltan (1984, USSR)
Total Eclipse (1995, UK, Belgium, France)
The 13th Warrior (1999, USA), loosely based on Beowulf
Troy (2004, USA), from The Iliad
’Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974, USA, short, made-for-TV)
The Vengeance of Dan McGrew (1916, USA, short)
Under Milk Wood (1972, United Kingdom)
The Virgin Spring (1960, Sweden)
Wilde (1997, UK, Germany, Japan)
Winter Days (2003, Japan)
The Wind Will Carry Us (1999, Iran)

“A teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good action, for one single good poem, accomplishes more than he who fills our memory with rows and rows of natural objects, classified with name and form.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe